Renewal and the Spirit

Introduction

(Ever want to be a part of something that makes a difference in the world?)

Joel 1:

Judgment is coming. Whether you will be one who will be judged or one who will escape judgment because of your relationship with Jesus, God’s call for us through Joel is to: Wake up!

In this second half, Joel paints a picture of what happens when God’s people respond for

If you will return to the Lord with all your heart, (12-17)

God will restore all that sin has destroyed, (18-27)

Through the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. (28-30)

If you will return to the Lord with all your heart, (12-17)

Joel 2:12–17 (ESV)

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

God is not looking for part of you — a Sunday version, etc. He requires your whole heart. What has your heart?

14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;

Call everyone!

16 gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants.

The call to return to the Lord is personal and corporate. They get everyone — Even the nursery!

For the most part we are looking for ways that the message of God’s Word is applicable to us personally. Have you ever thought of what the sermon means for us corporately?

God has called us out (ekklesia) as a people together for His glory and for His purpose.

Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Nothing is more important than seeing God work revival in His people!

17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

Notice it is for God’s glory.

Notice the prayer.

The catalyst for revival and renewal is prayer. The necessary ingredient is repentance.

(Pray for God to move in His way for His glory.)

Revival cannot happen with unconfessed sin, but when sin is confessed and there is repentance...

God will restore all that sin has destroyed, (18-27)

Joel 2:18–19 (ESV)

18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 19 The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

God responds to the faith-filled prayers of His people.

v 20-24

“Fear not”

“Be glad”

“Rejoice”

When your relationship is right before God there is no fear, there is joy.

Joel 2:25 (ESV)

25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

The effects of sin in our lives is great. But God, who can remove the guilt of sin can also remove the effects of sin.

How? Three ways:

Joel 2:26–27 (ESV)

26 “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Provision

“eat. . . be satisfied”

Presence

“Know. . . I am in the midst”

Peace

No more shame.

(Trust what God can do.)

Notice the future tense.

The world around the people was disastrous. It didn’t seem like there was any good left.

But God was promising full restoration not just something a little better.

>What do you need God to restore? (For His glory — v 17 — Spare your people so the nations don’t question you)

>What has sin taken?

How can we be sure of this?

Through the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. (28-30)

Joel 2:28–29 (ESV)

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

This is an incredible statement for two reasons:

It was a radical shift in the way the Holy Spirit worked in their day.

It’s the radical way the Holy Spirit works today.

It was a radical shift in the way the Holy Spirit worked in their day.

Holy Spirit is a co-equal and co-eternal Person of the Trinity. He, like the Father and Son, had no beginning and will have no end. He has been active all throughout the OT and is active now.

We see In Genesis that the Holy Spirit was active in creation.

In many places throughout the OT we see the Holy Spirit at work empowering certain people and leaders in Israel’s history for the purpose of advancing God’s redemptive plan in the world.

— empowered Joshua with leadership skills and wisdom

— Throughout the Book of Judges we read that “The Spirit of the Lord came upon” Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson

— Holy Spirit rested on Saul as he led Israel in battle as their first king.

— Then later, “The Spirit of the LORD came mightily on David,” the man after God’s own heart.

— On and on it goes. The Holy Spirit is certainly NOT absent in the OT.

However, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit as Joel is prophecying will happen is radically different than has been experienced before.

— On all flesh - all who are God’s people

— Not just men, not a select few, not bound by gender, or class

2. It’s the radical way the Holy Spirit works today.

Acts 2:1–4 (ESV)

(Jesus has ascended into heaven)

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

People were stunned that the people could speak in different languages. The only explanation was . . . They were drunk.

Acts 2:14 (ESV)

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

Acts 2:16–18 (ESV)

16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Peter says — what you see is the power of God giving evidence to the presence of God.

Because when you see the power of God at work it points you toward the presence of God. (as it did in the OT)

And this is to advance the plan of God — to make Jesus known.

Acts 2:22 (ESV)

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—

Joel 2:32 (ESV)

32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

when the Holy Spirit is present in our lives, the presence of God is evident in the world.

“The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”

― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

We are a temple for the Holy Spirit

The HS is poured out to manifest the presence of God, to give the power of God, for the purpose of God (missional Acts 1:8, Acts 2)

(Submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life.)

“I want to live so that I am truly submitted to the Spirit's leading on a daily basis. Christ said its better for us that the Spirit came and I want to live like that is true. I don't want to keep crawling when I have the ability to fly.”

“If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not?”

― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

How many of us who have the Spirit actually take advantage of the Spirit poured out?

It’s as if we are holding out clenched hands to the pouring of the Spirit and at best become damp with the Spirit instead of filled with the Spirit

Submitting to the Spirit leads to a filling of the Spirit.

The church — this church — must be a place the power of the Holy Spirit is evident and obvious so that the presence of the God might be manifest and draw others to Himself. We must be the conduits of the Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in buildings, or offices, or books, or instruments.

He dwells in people. People who have called on the name of Lord through Jesus to be saved.

“If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless?”

― Francis Chan, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Conclusion

Rut, Rot or Revival: The Problem of Change and Breaking Out of the Status Quo (It is Simply Self-Deception)

The difference between a wooden leg and a good leg is that if you prick a wooden leg the person would never notice. The difference between a church that has dry rot and a church that is alive is that if you prick the live church it will respond. If you prick the other kind, it is already dead.